2022 Audi S4

[MUSIC PLAYING] LAUREN MCCAY: Welcome to U-Drags. I'm your host, Lauren McCay from Edmunds. And today, we have a race that plays into some differing personality traits. Over here, I have the 2022 Audi S4. I like to call the traditionalist. And over here, I've got the hipster, the 2022 Volkswagen Golf R. But first, what is U-Drags? It's a good question. It's a drag race down the track, they're going to do a hard brake, flip it around, and come back. That means in just one single race, we're getting a quarter mile, hard braking, handling, and a rolling start all wrapped in one. That's pretty exciting. It's going to be lit. Once these go down, they're going to come back, we're going to swap drivers, and swap lanes, and run it again. Why? So we can get to know what these cars are really working with, which brings me to their specs. Going head to head, we have the 2022 Volkswagen Golf R with 315 horsepower and 295 pound feet of torque up against the 2022 Audi S4 with 349 horsepower and 369 pound feet of torque. But will the extra 500 pounds in the Audi be enough for the Golf R to take the win? To find out, we have our two expert drivers from the Edmunds test team, Kurt and Jonathan. If you want to see more U-Drags, you know what you got to do. Like and subscribe below to our channel. And if you want a cash offer for your car, head over to edmunds.com/sellmycar for an instant quote. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I am in the Golf R. This is the baddest version of Golf out there. It makes over 300 horsepower. It has all wheel drive. And that all wheel drive system is tuned in a way that it actually feels more rear biased, which makes this car more playful, and more willing to turn. I love this car. I've driven it before. I think the Golf has a chance of pulling out a victory with its power to weight ratio, and just the way that it behaves. For the launch sequence, you have to go through the car settings, go to the brake settings, and that's where you're going to find the electronic stability control system. I'm going to switch that to Off, engine RPM arises, everything turns green. Good to go. KURT NIEBUHR: Audi S4. I'm going to use launch control, put the car in Dynamic Mode. And then you press the ESC button once. That puts it into ESC Sport. I think ESC Sport kind of makes the all wheel drive system a bit sportier, where if you turn everything off, it just kind of deadens everything and the car gets less responsive. At least that's been my experience. I prefer ESC Sport. I would put my money on the Golf. I don't have a lot of money, but I probably would. Then again, now I'm in the Audi. Always bet on yourself. LAUREN MCCAY: All right drivers, here we go. In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Go. KURT NIEBUHR: Got him. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Come on. Come on. Go. Yeah. KURT NIEBUHR: Uh-oh. Uh-oh. No. He's lighter. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I knew it. I knew it. All right, just don't mess this up. KURT NIEBUHR: Come on. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh, so close. KURT NIEBUHR: Oh no. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I got it. No. KURT NIEBUHR: Just lighter. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I got it. KURT NIEBUHR: Just a little lighter. Damn it. I got a good exit though. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Bye-bye. Bye-bye. KURT NIEBUHR: Losing is hard work, man. LAUREN MCCAY: It was like the Golf R just left a trail. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Man is this Golf R just well rounded. It has the grip, it has the speed. I thought you got a pretty good launch. And I was like, uh-oh. This could be bad. And then halfway down, I was like, no. I got this. KURT NIEBUHR: The S4 just kind of lacks the snap that the Golf R has. The shifts in this just aren't as quick, just not as abrupt. They don't have that surge to it. So every shift, I would slow down just a beat and you would just pull ahead that much more. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Yeah, I think at the end of the day, what we have to remember is that Audi, that Audi still needs to sort of be a luxury car. It can't be just so aggressive all the time. It needs to have that smoothness that people are probably expecting paying that much money. I mean, this Golf R isn't cheap exactly. But people that buy this know what they're getting. They want performance. KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, and Audi has the RS brand. If you want the all out stuff, and you should, you should buy an RS3. But this car is no slouch. I mean, for a four door, you could put your kid in the back of it and make them sick easy. Well, let's switch sides and I want a shot at that thing. [MUSIC PLAYING] JONATHAN ELFALAN: All right. Now I'm in the S4, the more mature of the two vehicles here. I do think that the Golf has a small dynamic advantage. This car is still plenty capable. So my strategy here is really just focus on getting a really good launch and not trying to overshoot the braking area because I think with the Golf R just a little bit ahead, I may see that red mist and want to push a little deeper in. And that just ends up not being good for me. KURT NIEBUHR: Volkswagen Golf R versus a beautiful blue Audi S4. We already saw in the first race that this car is just that much quicker every step of the way. So I'm hoping that I can start that much quicker and stay that much quicker. I don't want to fall behind. Because it's not that much quicker. It's just that much quicker. LAUREN MCCAY: Here we go. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Go. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Come on, S4. KURT NIEBUHR: Yes. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh, come on. KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, where is he? Oh, he's-- JONATHAN ELFALAN: No. KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, just a little faster everywhere. JONATHAN ELFALAN: This looks familiar. All right. Here we go on the brakes. Oh, turn might have overcooked it. Come on. You got this, Audi. KURT NIEBUHR: There we go. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Whoo. Oh, not enough. Oh my God. It's the same thing just switching places. LAUREN MCCAY: No. You know what? It's odd. It's almost like we just saw an identical race. KURT NIEBUHR: Proof that hatchbacks are cooler. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Well, it's proof if they're faster. But yeah, they are also pretty cool. I am a hatchback fan. KURT NIEBUHR: This leaves just a tiny bit quicker. And then it just kind of picks up speed over the Audi just incrementally everywhere all the way down through the quarter mile, braking the cars a little lighter, turn in cars a little crisper. Just everything about it is just that much better. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I mean, the Audi, like you said, is not slow. And it's actually still kind of fun. I got some oversteer at the corner. It'll play with you. It's just not quite as direct as that Golf R is. It just that Golf R just hooks up and it takes off. KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, and as just a total aside, the steering wheel in that Audi is great. But the steering wheel in the R is just that much better. It's kind of shaped here and there. And it just, it makes you want to drive more aggressively. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Yeah, I mean, mine doesn't even have a flat bottom. And I think that's the first element that you need for a sporty experience, right? KURT NIEBUHR: You can't take it seriously unless it's got a flat bottom. LAUREN MCCAY: In race one, the S4 got the jump but didn't keep the lead for very long as the Golf laid down its power and crossed the quarter mile faster than the S4. Its tuned chassis allowed it to keep the lead through the turn pulling a full lateral G. From there, the S4 was shopping at the Gap as the Golf crossed the finish line with its best time at 36.4 seconds. Almost a full second faster than the S4. In race two, the Golf got the jump this time and took a promising lead that we all knew it wasn't going to give up. And check this out. Both cars pulled 1.01 lateral Gs in the turn. The S4 truly gave it its all on this run. But it still wasn't enough to claim the win as the Golf crossed the finish line faster than the S4. Kurt, I'm starting with you. This Golf, it's impressive. KURT NIEBUHR: It is. LAUREN MCCAY: How do you feel? KURT NIEBUHR: I feel that it's a grown-up hot hatch. It's got enough sophistication but it's still playful enough that we'll really have some fun. And it's faster than an S4. And that's a pretty big selling point is you can still have hatchback coolness, all the hatchback practicality. Quicker than your older brother, basically. LAUREN MCCAY: Everybody wants to beat out their older brother, right? Poor Jonathan, sad face over here. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I mean, I did win in that once, OK? LAUREN MCCAY: Fair. JONATHAN ELFALAN: But as an older brother, I feel like that's a strike against an older brother that's very well put together. And classier, maybe a little bit more mature. I mean, it's funny that you have to qualify a hot hatch as a mature hot hatch. But I will have to agree that this is the most mature hot hatch that you can get out of all the hot hatches. I think I would still rather be seen in that. KURT NIEBUHR: And you can be seen in that, be seen in second. LAUREN MCCAY: Ouch. I need some aloe vera for that burn. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Wow, man. Well, we older brothers need to stick together. So-- LAUREN MCCAY: Well, I'm the middle child. So clearly, I'm Switzerland right now. This has been another great U-Drags race. Thanks for stopping in. Look, we're going to have more. So come back. And you get to decide now what you want. You heard it here from the experts. It's your choice. We'll see you next time. [MUSIC PLAYING]